For Immediate Release
August 1st, 2001
Contact: Tori Richards (714) 347-8405
Sex-Registrant Dance Instructor Charged With Molesting Teen-Aged Student
SANTA ANA — A registered sex offender who works as a dance instructor was charged today with molesting one of his teen-aged students over a two-year period beginning in June 1999.
Maurice LaMont Jones (DOB 7-30-62) of Westminster was charged with two counts of statutory rape and six counts of child molestation. Prosecutors also allege a prior strike and having a prior prison commitment. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of 16 years in state prison.
Jones appeared in court this afternoon for an arraignment, that was continued until Aug. 24. He is being held without bail.
A photo of the defendant is available at the Brea Police Department. Authorities are hoping to locate more victims.
This case was solved when the victim, who is now 17, walked into the Brea police station Monday with her mother and said that Jones had been molesting her while he taught dance lessons in her home. Detectives began working on the case right away and by Monday evening they had enough evidence to arrest Jones, who was teaching a dance class at Memories nightclub in Anaheim.
Jones teaches jazz, tap and swing in students’ homes, his home or in clubs. His strike and prior prison commitment stems from 13 prior molestation convictions that occurred in the early 1990s.